Andy Reid's final defeat
Giants 42, Eagles 7
Andy Reid's final defeat
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For years, I had this vision of how Andy Reid would walk away. I carried it until pretty recently, until about 2010. The way I figured it, the final camera shot would go like this: Reid finishing the press conference after the Super Bowl, finding his wife, Tammy, in the crowd of reporters -- she always goes to his post-game press conferences -- and walking away with one arm around her and the Lombardi Trophy in the other.
It was cinematic and Hollywood, yes -- but didn’t the law of averages have to work for Reid at some point? Didn’t it? That was the theory, anyway. In the last 2 years, though, the vision changed. We all know the reasons -- Michael Vick, a couple of bad drafts, a failure to replace Jim Johnson at defensive coordinator despite repeated attempts. And while it was easy to see it ending badly, it was hard to predict the last day.
Sunday was the last day.
It was cold and miserable and buffeted by a bitter wind. It was sloppy and inept. And when it was over -- historians will record the final final score for Reid as the Eagles’ coach was Giants 42, Eagles 7 -- the black-clad coach left the sidelines for the last time. All that remains is the press conference where he will be fired, presumably on Monday.
He will be known for how much he won, and how much his quarterbacks threw the ball. He will be known for “time’s yours” and taking responsibility and needing to put his players in a better position and looking forward to the privilege of playing everyone. He will be remembered for being the best coach the Eagles ever had at the same time he is remembered for failing to win the the Super Bowl.
The final indignities of the final Sunday -- the bad tackling, the terrible secondary play, the erratic quarterbacking of Vick, the deserved fourth-quarter benching of cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha -- will not linger, mostly because almost nobody was paying attention. But the answer to the trivia question will be this: Reid’s first quarterback was Doug Pederson and his last quarterback was Trent Edwards, who mopped up Sunday.
There was no spotlight on the players, not on this day. All eyes were on Reid, with the rolled-up play chart in his left hand and the red challenge flag in his back pocket and 14 years of memories locked inside. As he walked off, for the last time, that is where those memories remained.
Let the healing begin!— atb124- He heasnt been fired yet. Lets at least wait for the official notice. Ps his wife served him divorce papers.— joeyrofrano
- I would like to add my two cents to Andy's tenure here.
I think he is a great coach at preparing his team for games.
I also think he is one of the worst game day coaches.
He should have handed over those duties to his coordinators long ago. How often have we seen bungling of timeouts, confusion and bad judgement calls at crucial times. Too many.
Turner at San Diego suffers from a similiar problem. Smart coach during the week but falls apart on game days.— candidly - End of an era? More like end of a kidney stone.— dasher
- Over and done with, finally. Reid WAS a good coach, not a great coach. He used players and used them up, and dumped them if they dared pipe up a decibel. He filled his coaching staff with loyalists and yes-men, and got rid of those who questioned him; he let Roseman play fantasy football with a real team, then trumpeted that these decisions were HIS decisions. It's really sad; Reid never learned how to adapt, to alter his set plans, and never changed his style either with the game or in changing circumstances. If he still wants to coach, he should be a COACH, not a HEAD COACH. Reid rode the horse waiting for him too many years, and we see what happened to each one he got.
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I do wish him well, and if coaching is what he wants to do, then so he should. As for the Eagles, it's time to clean out the house. Lurie needs a top manager who knows football, not Roseman; let Howie do the numbers, but get a football guy in there. Let him pick the coach, let the coach pick the staff, then get rid of the dead weight. Time is now yours, Jeff; choose well.— MidStaterUXB - Good luck Andy. You gave us a lot of good years.— Marie Elena
- 42-7? Ha! Some pundits thought the players would rally and send Reid off with a win (eliminating the hated Giants in the process).
Most of us knew better, since this collection of quitting dogs had checked out long ago.— jman - Candidly,
"I think he is a great coach at preparing his team for games."
What team have YOU been watching?— jman - Candidly,"I think he is a great coach at preparing his team for games."What team have YOU been watching? (HTML deleted)— jman
- Reid will coach again but how will we react if he wins a Super Bowl?— meteo30
- Any thoughts about Cowher as Coach? Supposedly he wants back into the game...— NYC sucks
- Good regular season record but because of his shortcomings he could not get over his fear of winning. At playoff time and at the end of games in the playoffs his horrible clock management,atrocious 2 minute offense, and his fear of taking a big risk to win plus his lack of discipline and character overtook any positives he ever demonstrated.— bevejo2
- Andy is surely the best coach in the Eagles modern era. Even the Reid Haters (Dirty....err...Dopey 30 types) have to admit as much. Taking a 3-13 team to the heights he achieved (6 NFC East titles, 5 NFC Championship games & a Super Bowl....one choking...err...puking QB from a Lombardi....certainly qualifies the Reid Era as the finest in Eagles history! Fans seem to forget the cyclic nature of success in today's NFL. Let's have class and a clue and wish Andy well in his next endeavor.....and hope Lurie identifies and hires a coach as fine as Andy Reid surely has been! Oh.....and can we get a real NFL talent evaluator at GM?— TruthTeller01
- The announcers of todays game were so phony, if thats the right word, with their praise of Reid. Were they being objective in what they were watching? I heard Billick on the radio this week saying that you won't find a better coach then Andy Reid, and would take Reid over a Super Bowl winning coach. Fox should have barred him from the game because of his bias.— watsonmr
- Anybody know who the Giants are playing next week? HAHAHAHA! Good to see the worst team to win Super Bowls (well the '86 team was legit) get put where they belong - on the outside looking in! NYC SUCKS as do New Yawk people! Every time I go there I feel like I left America! Is NYC a "no English zone" or something? Beruit has more real Americans!— TruthTeller01
